Chapter 5: Mystery in a Petite form

Kakiru hardly ever felt hungry.

Sure, she knew the sensation of her stomach yearning for food, as training caused her a lot of energy after all. But that was merely an annoyance.

Or so she thought because now she is starving~.

Well, it might just be her overreacting, but that was the gist of it. And also, she needed to be in her best shape if she still wanted to explore.

Comes to think of it, the cuisine is also worth exploring, isn't it?

But her hunger was dwindling down her excitement for finding new things, and that in itself was so unacceptable!

So right now, she must focus on the biggest goal of her life!

That was finding something to eat, of course, and preferably something delicious.

Definitely something delicious.

Okay, she might sound like an airhead looking for food to fill her stomach, but this is survival.

Don't judge.

That said, there was food everywhere, but they weren't edible in the slightest. Those pizzas in the trash smelled terrible that made her want to puke and she couldn't imagine what would happen if she digested them.

Whatever happens, it won't be pretty.

But she might have a way around this predicament.

Her mind cast back to scar-boy and remembered that he still owed her a favor.

Sure, he looked sketchy as hell, and maybe trying too hard at being absolute emo, but an informant couldn't possibly be poor.

Right?

Well, Kakiru didn't know much about him, and wouldn't care to figure out more, but he was literally the only one she knew right now.

Did she feel proud to know she was leeching off others so much? Of course!

To be fair, she saved his life, so he probably won't be stingy about taking her out for dinner. Probably.

He would be petty, otherwise.

So with a new goal in mind and her stomach to fill, Kakiru set out to find her favorite trauma arsonist. Well, technically true since he was the only arsonist she knew.

She still liked the name 'scar-boy' better, though.

Okay, this is fucking stupid.

What was going with his luck these days?

Yesterday being taken by surprise by a group of thugs and getting his ass handed to him by a little girl was already bullshit on so many levels.

But fate gave him the middle finger again today by shoving a hero in his face.

A fucking hero.

Well, it couldn't be that much of a problem considering he had a quirk that could turn others into ashes almost instantly, right?

Apparently, fate gave him another middle finger with its other hand.

Because of all heroes he had to face, it had to be Eraserhead.

Eraserhead, he realized from his fighting style and signature scarf, even though he was not a very well-known hero.

But Dabi did his research, and Eraserhead was one of the decent ones. It was unfortunate to meet him here.

Unfortunately for Dabi.

That bullshit quirk was fucking overpowered. He experienced it first-hand having his quirk completely nullified, forcing him to fight with the hero basically quirkless.

Moments like this made him wish he had learned how to fight without his quirk. As useful as his fighting had been, it was refined taking into account his quirk. Which now rendered it mostly useless.

Great. Fanstastic even.

Eraserhead's fighting style was impeccable and natural, he hit true and precise. He actually made this fight look too easy for Dabi's liking.

It in fact was.

And his stamina was wearing thin, Dabi knew he couldn't win this find and was looking to get away. But that put a lapse in his judgment.

That damn scarf of the hero shot at him like a tendril as it wrapped around his ankle, and Dabi felt himself being slammed into the ground with no way to fight back.

Oh, come on!

He wanted to struggle, but his entire body felt sore, and his mind was hazy.

Dabi registered the cold feeling of metallic as no doubt he had been cuffed. Eraserhead blinked, but the feeling of his quirk didn't come back.

Quirk suppressing cuffs for the win, huh?

Fuck, he couldn't even judge the situation clearly. Now, he most definitely will go to jail, and that didn't sound appealing to him at all.

Eraserhead wiped the floor with him. And even with how much he was fuming right now, there was nothing he could do about it.

He just felt so goddamn tired.

Dabi closed his eyes as exhaustion took over him, oblivious to what was about to happen.

This evening just turned out to be a lot more than Kakiru bargained for, and she just wanted to find something to eat.

Well, she found scar-boy and caught sight of him getting beaten up by a homeless-looking guy. As much as she wanted to laugh at his misery, she still needed scar-boy.

For her well-deserved meal, of course!

So defying all reason, Kakiru decided to be an idiot and rushed in.

"Let go of scar-boy!" Kakiru screamed as she threw a knife at the strange man, followed by a kick aimed at his face.

The man dodged the knife, and managed to block her kick but was pushed back nonetheless.

Damn it! Look like scar-boy got in big trouble this time!

She grimaced in annoyance.

The element of surprise was lost, and now she must fight even equal footing.

She didn't really think this through, huh?

But who cares?

Kakiru jumped back, trying to grab scar-boy and get the hell out of there, but has to dodge as the man's scarf flung past her, almost getting her trapped.

If he wants to play that kind of game, then fine.

She didn't have any ranged weapon, and this knife was the only one she had left, so it would be pointless to keep her distance.

Then the best solution now will be to take this man out quickly!

She sprinted forward, twirling her knife as the man sidestepped. Clicking her tongue, the maniac attempted to crack his nut, but he easily blocked it.

He had experience, it seemed.

But Kakiru wasn't done as she let go of her knife, now two hands grabbed the collar of the man's shirt tightly. She then headbutted him as hard as she could, leaving the both of them in a daze.

Yes, both of them.

Kakiru recovered quicker, picking up her knife from the ground and slashing at his stomach. It would hit.

If he didn't open his eyes.

His eyes glowed red, making Kakiru feel an indescribable frosty feeling, and almost froze in place. She snapped out of it, but it gave him enough time to dodge.

It won't happen twice.

Kakiru thought as she once again attempted to attack.

Fighting this man, Kakiru realized she was pretty much outclassed. Not by a large margin, but definitely enough to know she couldn't win.

It pissed her off somehow. This man had skills, real skills, and proper martial arts, not just street fighting technique and cutthroat strategy.

And this fight showed.

At this point, she might get swept in with scar-boy. She needed something, a distraction to get away.

The man was relentless, his hand and feet were deadly in themselves, his mind was clear and his judgment was precise. And he even had a scarf that is pretty much an extra limb at this point.

He had a quirk that was activated by eye contact. But that gave the maniac an idea to take advantage of that.

But first, she had to take out that annoying goggles.

She jumped back and readied her stance. Kakiru then weaved through the way of his scarf, grabbing it by her hand.

Shit.

Her hand was bleeding, and she realized the scarf was not made of normal fabric but likely some kind of metal alloy. It was razor-sharp around the edge and durable enough.

That is for later, though. Gritting her teeth, Kakiru stabbed the knife down, pinning it to the ground.

Not a moment wasted, she sprinted forward, using her feet to kick at his face. He blocked it, but not fast enough and his goggle got dislocated.

That was enough.

The maniac spun around, opening her palm as a handful of dust blew freely in the wind, right into the man's eyes.

The man grunted as he fell back, and Kakiru took the opportunity to run, grabbing scar-boy on the way.

She almost got out when she felt something tugging at her legs, on turned back to see the man, eyes still closed, with his scarf wrapped around her ankle.

But he won't expect this kind of move.

"EXPLOSION!" She screamed, focusing on the blood smeared on the scarf, and it immediately exploded. The scarf got detached and Kakiru was free once again. Almost lost her balance and hit the ground face-first, but freedom nonetheless.

With a toothy grin, Kakiru took the opportunity to disappear into the night with scar-boy, much to someone else's annoyance.

Now scar-boy owed her big time.

Dabi felt tired, his whole body was sore. Why is everything so dark in here?

"-ake up."

Did he get caught? Is he in jail now?

He hasn't done anything to warrant a straight transfer to Tartarus, has he? What if-

"I swear-WAKE UP!"

The sudden noise jolted him wide awake as Dabi immediately took in his surroundings.

First, luckily he was not in jail.

Second, the little girl he met the night before and the one he was trying to find tonight, was frowning while looking at him, expression unreadable.

Apparently, her face was too close for his liking.

"Ah-!" He tried to scream but she immediately muffled his scream with her hand

Desperate, he tried to call upon his fire but realized he couldn't summon it at all.

"Oh shut up."

It took him a while to register the metal restraining his hands, but Dabi then stopped struggling and the maniac loosen her hand.

The situation dawned on him suddenly, and he could swear he felt his own face heat up in embarrassment.

"Uh…could you please take this off me?" Dabi asked awkwardly

"Depends. What does it do?" She asked skeptically

"It prevented me from using my quirk." He explained, silently praying that she would be kind enough to not make this harder than it already had been.

"Good thing I didn't take it off, then." She was immediately met with a glare from him "Okay, just…wait a bit. Just need to-"

...

It took her a while to find a way to get the cuff off him, and some of her methods seriously made him worried for his life, but in the end, she succeeded.

Without costing him any finger, which he was grateful for.

"You were quite a handful, you know?" She said, boredom clearly plastered her face

"Thank you for your untimely assistance, I suppose." He snarked back, but she just shrugged it off.

Honestly, it sounded too weak for even a child to find it threatening. But Dabi could guess he lost he bite a bit after tonight's event.

"Again, scar-boy. You kept getting in trouble, and I'm just there at an inopportune moment." She sighed, but a curious expression lit up her face "Seriously though, who was that homeless-looking guy? He packed quite a punch, I must say."

"That guy was a hero, named Eraserhead, his quirk was the ability to erase others' quirk by looking directly at them. I couldn't use my flame and get overwhelmed." He sighed while the girl snorted in amusement

"That guy was good, I had to give him that. Hmm…so that cold sensation was his quirk? It almost cost me the fight, I would need to be wary of him next time." She muttered gleefully

"I don't think he was someone you would like to face the second time."

"Who cares? If he gets in my way, I will punch his head off, hero or not." Kakiru grunted in response, looking quite upset "But you are right, I can't beat him the way I am now."

"So you do have some common sense after all."

"Shut up, scar-boy." She rolled her eyes, which he promptly ignored

"…but again, thank you for your assistance. Getting in jail would be a major setback, and although you clearly didn't mean to help, I owe you once again."

He could only pray that this was not a terrible mistake.

"Come to think of it, I need a favor." She said, with such a thoughtful expression that made Dabi honestly frightened "Right now."

Okay, this seriously unnerved him. If it looked like it didn't, it was because Dabi didn't let it show.

"Information?" He asked, his voice quivered

"No."

"Money?"

She raised a brow but that, but ultimately shook his head

"Hm. Could be handy…but no."

Was she...playing with him?

"Then what is that you need?"

"Food."

Dabi couldn't believe what he heard/

"What?"

"Food. I need food. So you should give me exactly that, preferably something delicious." The maniac said so casually, but the sentences made him blink multiple times.

It was in a way too incomprehensible for him.

"Of all the things you could ask for-" He stopped right there, sighing instead "You just to ask for food?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know what I even expected." His face palmed, while the maniac just cackle in amusement.

Reluctantly, he decided to humor her this time. What is the worst that could happen?

Okay, this sucks.

The maniac that he once thought to be a little girl, turned out to have a bottomless stomach as well.

"Hey, scar-boy, try this! This-" She ripped the chicken apart with her sharp teeth "isverlydelicusss…"

"Swallow your food first, please." He sighed, but inside of Dabi was turmoil as he began to count the money he had left.

In fact, he wouldn't have anything left to count if she continued like this.

"oomkay-You are not fun at all." She rolled her eyes, but her lips just stayed curled up, and that was making Dabi feel very annoyed

"It wasn't even that delicious. You could find this stuff anywhere. Where have you been living all this time?"

"Dunno." She answered flippantly, grabbing another sushi across the tray.

"You don't?" He quirked his brow, and she glared at him in response.

"Maybe I do and I just decided not to tell you. You owe me, not the other way around." Her glare made him freeze up almost immediately. It was not malicious, just distant and cold. Calculating. Weighting her options.

Then she smirked, maybe she found it funny seeing him dejected like this.

"But while I had no reason to tell you, I was feeling happy so-"

"Glad you were because this had been a pain."

"Oh shuddup, scar-boy. You could use some more optimism." She laughed, her expression surprisingly gentle "I don't think I know much to satisfy your curiosity, but ask away."

"Who really are you?"

"Dunno."

"You said you would-"

"And I answered honestly." Kakiru stopped eating, and a look of reminiscence flashed on her face "You could call me Kakiru. That's it. There was nothing complicated about this."

Or at least, as far as Kakiru knew.

...

It was true in a way, Kakiru didn't know more about herself than that. When she first woke up, she didn't find it important to think deeper.

Maybe it would come to her someday. If it didn't, it was just not meant to be.

"I don't understand-"

"You don't need to, scar-boy. It didn't really concern you." Her expression turned grim "Unless you tried to make it your problem."

Seeing scar-boy fall back into silence made her feel guilty, even just a bit. But she wasn't sure if she could trust him, or anyone for that matter.

At least until he showed himself worthy of trust. For now, scar-boy was at most toleratable.

Trusting went a long way.

But the silence was at least comfortable in her book.

"I think this has already become my problem. If this night was anything to come by, then this kind of situation would likely happen again." He grumbled after a while

"Lucky me then, scar-boy. It would be great if you could take me out for dinner every night." She laughed, and she could swear he saw scar-boy shiver under her mental attack

He glared at her, but Kakiru surprisingly found no real malice within his blue eyes.

"Don't make this a habit, you hear?" He sighed

"No promises when you kept getting into trouble like this-Another, please." She called out to the waiter, who just lowered her head in resignment and scurried away

"Wasn't it enough already?" He widened her eyes and looked almost like he was about to cry.

Well, Kakiru was just about to laugh at his misery. This was too entertaining!

"Not until I drained your pocket dry. Besides, you have been learning a lot more about me, haven't you? Think about it as a side fee." She backed, and his shoulder just slumped in resignation.

"Brat." He managed to spit out

If he thought that was enough to faze her, he would be wrong.

"Brat and savior, scar-boy." She added, which made scar-boy groan in response.

Having a meal with scar-boy was sure a delight. She felt full after literally erasing all that food along with scar-boy's budget.

And she didn't even feel guilty for a bit.

Well, the taste wasn't diverse, but she would be a picky person if she said so.

And the look of disbelief on his face was priceless. Kakiru just wanted to laugh out loud at his misfortune. In fact, she already did.

Well, it wasn't really all fun and game when she realized she faced off against a hero of all people, but it was worth the gain.

Maybe.

Besides, she had opportunities to practice her quirk. In fact, her quirk literally told her to be more reckless because it would actually work in her favor.

All she needs now is a decent weapon. She couldn't keep fighting with this rusty knife and actually hoped that it would make the cut.

And learning to actually fight with a weapon would be reasonable, too. As handy as the knife was, it would be lacking in a fight for its short reach. She needed a more versatile weapon should she face off against more powerful enemies in the future.

She would need to ask scar-boy about that next time.

For now, she felt tired. It has been a long night, so Kakiru was looking forward to some sleep.

She could still see her name written clearly on the blackboard. Deciding it wasn't worth her attention, she let the darkness take her.

Mikumo had many questions, mainly about why he felt so full despite not eating anything for two days.

Okay, it was his fault for neglecting his meal, but he got more important things to do.

But that was not important, because he finally got a name.

The mysterious person who most definitely was sharing a body with him.

"Kakiru, huh?"

Almost immediately when it came out of his mouth, he felt unable to breathe, vision blurring.

And when he opened his eyes, he saw he was standing in a dark void.

But he was not alone, as he saw a girl with blond hair standing opposite of him. She gazed at him with her red eyes that brimmed with confusion.

Mikumo guess he discovered something, after all.

Hey, I guess this is just a filler chapter. Hopefully, I could be determined enough to actually write an important event in the next chap, but I'm not reliable in that regard. Dabi and Kakiru's relationship in this chapter was ambiguous and awkward at best, but they would get around later. Nevertheless, I was happy to finish this chapter at least.